To get us up to speed on eMTBs we hear from founder of the Electric Bike Review, Court Rye. Court gives us a breakdown of the eBike Classifications and a brief history. The main guest of the episode is the Sales and Marketing Manager at Yamaha Bicycles, Drew Engelmann. eMTBs have been produced by mountain bike manufacturers for a while, but the recent announcement of Yamaha entering the market is the first time we’re seeing an eMTB from a motorized company.
Show Notes & Links
https://electricbikereview.com/guides/electric-bike-classes/
https://electricbikereview.com/guides/electric-mountain-bikes-allowed/
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https://twitter.com/ebikereview
https://www.youtube.com/ElectricBikeReview
https://www.facebook.com/yamahabicycles
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https://twitter.com/yamahabicycles
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC83saGNQqfeBAVkmnSK0NZw
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Your guest has said that the US government has designated classes for E-bikes and they do not consider them to be a motor vehicle this is in regards to their use on roadways. The US forestry has designated them as a motorized vehicles and banned their use on any of their trail systems and as of right now Ebikes are considered to be motorized by many trail Associations. There is no way of policing these policies at this time nor do I see it happening in the future. I agree that with proper use that the E-Mountain bike does not create anymore damage than a regular bike on the trails, but they have far more potential to damage them with misuse.
I agree that E-bikes will increase access to many people and grow the sport, but also feel that they will put inexperienced riders in areas above their skill level. I can not speak about any other areas but on the North Shore in Vancouver the harder trails are further up the mountain. Beginner rider will be exposed to higher risk riding and ultimately create situations that will be taxing on emergency services.